Do you know Gartner, the world’s leading provider of research and analysis about the global information technology industry, published relevant product information, evaluations, recommendations, and measurement services on a wide range of technology issues and trends, and they are using two tools to describe:

Hype Cycles this show the typical progression of an emerging technology in graphical terms, separating hype from reality so technology users can make informed decisions about when and if they should adopt a new technology. It was first introduced in 1995.

Magic Quadrants these are designed to help you choose the right vendor for selected technologies by providing vendor descriptions, market information, and the criteria used to determine vendors’ positions within a market. Determine which vendors are leaders, visionaries, niche-players, or challengers, then discover how vendors perform in relation to each other within a market and gauge where overall markets are going.

This year, in the Gartner’s report title “Magic Quadrant for ERP service providers in North America 2007″ they have reported 23 companies and present with there case in there current vendor landscape.

Source : Gartner

Important to learn, Accenture, CSC, IBM, Deloitte, Capsgemini still placed comfortably in Leader landscape, where few Indian MNC’s now coming into challenger zone.Another big player like EDS seems to be missing from the list.Isn’t?

Read This : http://mediaproducts.gartner.com/reprints/accenture/150514.html

Today, in one of post in Eddie Awad’s blog , he mention this year Oracle OpenWorld 2007 sessions presentation are available for public download.

Here are the details

url :http://www28.cplan.com/cc176/catalog.jsp

Login/password: cboracle/oraclec6

Hello, yes, I am back, from busy schedule in project thats sees yet another oracleapps roll out today early morning . Last one month , I was literally running out of time , and now its bit relief. Indeed it was great experience for me where Oracle 11.5.10.2 taken over SAP, which was used by the my client since last 7 years.It was mix experience for me as it consist of interacting and working with different mind set of people about the product, non acceptance methodology by local inhouse IT team and completely/slightly different functionality and GUI both the products offer , that makes situation challenging as well as frustrating.Anyway, it’s finally over, for now :)!!

Indeed it was great learning some of the important features and functionality between world two greatest ERP products. Hopefully, will be put some experiences some time later , which will surly have some answer who is best SAP or Oracle?

Finally I am very sorry to all you ,who asked some advice,answers and expecting email from my side, as I was not able to respond to any email because of time, I will surly going to take a call in couple of days.

Come again and check this place out!

I am bit busy in my project work since last 2 month and will be there till Oct first week, in fact I’ve been quietly studying this blog’s performance, vision and roadmap. Last few months I am getting lot of spam mails that really a pain to sort out.There are many things that need fixing (both technical and otherwise), that have piled over the last few months. For example:

1. Optimize load time - Last time I checked, this blog’s load time stands at a whopping 35 seconds!
2. Easier navigation - While current one isn’t all bad, but i have ideas for improving navigation.
3. Browser compatibility - Many readers reported they are facing some problem in IE7 and Safari.
4. Clear purpose - I want to further focus this blog and I want new readers to get at a glance what this blog’s about and where to find valuable content.
5. Readers easiness
6. Control spam : This is major one , in my action list.I am really fed up with all junk mails that I am getting.

….Points which I am going to cover to make ;

On top , I will follow KISS ……”Keep It Straight and Simple” as it is now..

…and Finally , thanks to all my reader.

First of all, a big thanks to all my lovely readers/visitor of this little blog, who keeps me motivated to share some information.and Yes,without them, I wouldn’t have the motivation to plan and do all of this.

Sharing through this blog for apps community,I’m really proud of: I’ve reached out to a fresh new reader of this blog and thanked him for having the interest to follow my blog. Then May I request what you thought about this blog, what you liked best and least. I was really amazed that he took the time and effort to reply, thoroughly describing his experience with the blog so far.

So now I want to generalize this concept:

In the comments, write at least one thing you like about this blog and , one thing you’d like to see changed. Your comments and suggestions will really helps me in to have a another action items in fixing minor technology stuff of this blog.

If you are new to oracle or looking to get start with oracle new technology,here is the resource link from oracle.

The recent couple of years have seen lot many mergers and acquisitions, thus the flow of data and supply chain that might get affected as some of information get changed when your supplier get acquired.Sharon Crawford has nicely analyses the whole situation and potentially point out some of best case. Read the whole article

Today is 31st Jan, 2006, the day when oracle had schedule to release 5 different products across 6 continent, out of which one is Oracle application i.e. R12.Thus,I thought to bring this topic here, to let everyone know how oracle helps in understanding the evolution of ERP Suite in last 20 years. 14000 installations worldwide is a wildcard entry while considering for product evaluation by companies who are looking for some ERP product. I hope everyone is bit excited to know.

Journey from 1978 till 1987

These 9 years oracle has seen lot many achievement like becoming first DBMS based Database Company. They have released 7 different database versions with technology enhancement, and they become Public company as sometime 1986 had IPO in market. The start up has turned in recognized DBMS company, thus it was perfect time for them as well as Industry expert are looking Integration with in area like Finance , Manufacturing etc..Thus ERP evolution takes place.

The application group Formed

Some times in August 1987 Oracle started there Oracle Applications division, a group focusing and building business management software closely integrated with there own database software.

The First “Oracle Application ”Product Launched

Sometime in August 1988 they released there first ERP application called accounting system that has only general Ledger functionality enabled. This is one of the reason of having General ledger application_id is 101.Intresting..

i-era/Dot com Time

The year 1997-98, the attention was primininlly focused on Internet, which already takes off in Information Technology sometime back. The concept of thin client was a baby at that time. This year oracle strategy shifts toward the internet and browser based development. The middle of year oracle launched and shipped there 11i product which was armed with 8i database, with lot many new features.

2000-2002

In 2000, Oracle9i Application Server released at Oracle becomes the first database with middle-tier cache. This 9iAS leads to launches of E-Business Suite. The suite combined with all inbuilt products.

2003 Onward

Since 2003 onward, oracle keep there attention on oracle application product and same time they make ready with departure of old 10.7 products, by simply de-supporting.

2005-06

These two year have seen acquisition and movement of oracle from DBMS to grid database, thus EBS suite does come out with MobApps, has feature of RFID and other need for manufacturing area. The year 2006 seen a release of yet another ..11.5.10.2 version.

2007 onward

Oracle is ready with there new version ready to release in market. This times a new member i.e. R12.

Could you imagine what kind of ERP system required to such kind of industry whose line of business is these products line? 

• Meat and Poultry
• Dairy
• Grains
• Processed Products
• Fruits and Vegetables
• Sea Food
• Grocery
• Beverages Alcoholic
• Beverage Beer
• Beverage Soft Drink
• Beverage Water
• Beverage Sports Drinks

I know this is bit tricky to answer. Though I have been never exposed to Food industry yet, but as EBS consultant working for such a long time, can surly consider Oracle Apps 11i as a complete product to cater this segments. The reason for bringing this topic here just because of a simple reason as sometime back I get across one the article written by Thomas R. Cutler, where he put some thoughts on the Potential usage of ERP product with Floor shop automation. What we understood, food and beverage industry require an ERP system that is flexible to respond to today’s demands and tomorrow’s changes, because of there uniqueness, rapid changing nature of there market. Sudden change in strategy, manufacturing process may require special attention for shop managers for such kind of industry, therefore a complete integration with Shop floor with ERP based application is one of key area. 

In his paper he did mention some tight system automation requirement with ERP system. Though he considers Food industry has of idiosyncratic nature of food manufacturing process. Thus the shop floor and some of area involved the process can be tighten which add-on the cost of product. Here are some of the area where he considers needs a nut and bolt requirement:

• Online tracking of engineering change orders with electronic routings for approvals.
• System generated BOM’s and routings for configured products.
• System generated production schedules from MRP module.
• Automatic yielding for finished goods and BOM components/ingredients.
• Where used and mass replace capabilities.
• System generated work orders for make to order environments.
• Fully attributed inventory from order entry through production and shipping.
• Online order promising by exploding the multi-level BOM, reviewing BOM stocking levels, and production space.
• Online messaging for production managers on plant floor exceptions.
• Integrated dashboards for management’s KPI’s.

Thus it is important to find balance between this industry sector nuance and a Basic ERP system . he too agreed that basic ERP functionality  are often lacking when the focus is too heavily on the bells and whistles. In his paper he strongly agree by Gill idea that he felt , “Many vertical ERP applications in the food sector lack strong financials and must integrate with bolt-on third party systems.” The ERP functionality should also include complete multi-company, multi-currency, and financial reporting capacity.

Here are some of potential area and functionality he mentions for ideal ERP system:

• Fully EDI enabled which offers automatic order entry, acknowledgements, ASN submittal, invoicing, purchase order transmittal, vendor acknowledgements
• Automatic check input and matching for bank deposits
• System generated forecasts based on sales history
• Online system (MRP/DRP) generated requisitions with purchase order creation and submission
• Online messaging with exception reporting
• Fully barcode enabled system
• Directed put away, pick, and restocking locations in warehouse
• Various picking methodologies for complete optimization of the warehouse
• Centralized purchasing and payment for multiple facilities, divisions, or companies
• Fully integrated e-commerce
• Integrated to Microsoft Outlook
• Fully integrated CRM

Apart from this there are some other areas which need a flexible move as required as some of changing business need to satisfy these requirements:

•     Regulatory Compliance – Reporting to support FDA, Bioterrorism Act, 702 and other legal requirements
•     Retailer Mandates – RFID, promotions, packaging requirements, private-label brands
•     Consumer Demands – Higher quality, more convenient products at lower prices Also other area like grower accounting for Contracts, pricing, settlement, payment and grower Management for Harvest management, farming activities, receipts can be add-on requirement in food industry

E-Business Suite for Food & Beverage

EBS suits does have a solid functionality to cater the food industry segment, Whether it is baking mix manufacturer, nut processor or other type of Food and Beverage producer, Oracle E-Business Suite provides specific food and beverage feature and functionality such as:

•  Process Manufacturing – Enables traceability throughout the entire manufacturing cycle with recipe management, production scheduling, process execution and inventory management.
•  Trade Management – Organizes and tracks marketing and sales trade promotions, deductions, and budgets.
• Food Safety and Compliance –Supports full accountability tracking at each step of the process.
  

  Also, I would like to share some of EBS 11i.10 enhancements like Scarce inventory allocation, lot/serial receiving, better controls for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 21 CFR Part 11 compliance and an improved channel/partner management dashboard has been targeted for faster communications.

  This is what Oracle EBS suites provides. This is datasheet provided by oracle of this industry segment. http://www.oracle.com/solutions/mid/collateral/consumer-products.pdf

Last quater of year 2006 sees boost in economic in North America, Europe and South Asia.The drastic growth of execution of some of the projects in ERP segment is beacuse, as many companies are planning to implement a new or expand an existing ERP solution in the near term. The predication of the ERP market is expected to grow 8 percent until 2008.For midsized corporations, government agencies, and industries such as health care are expected to lead the spending on ERP implementation, a web site reported. The leading ERP system providers are SAP and Oracle/PeopleSoft.

Some of the business drivers and market trend in ERP are :

• Consolidation of Systems - global instance
• Standardization of Processes
• Move to Shared Service Centers -SOA
• Focus on Security -SSO
• Corporate Compliance -SOX
• Cutting edge Technology -XML Pub

It is well know fact the EBS Suit has includes many different APIs and integration technologies,such as PL/SQL procedures, Java classes, XML Gateway messages, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) messages, open interfaces, concurrent programs, business events,and Web services.

Beginning with Oracle E-Business Suite 11i10, Oracle introduced a comprehensive online directory of Web services, interfaces, and integration points that act as the service broker for Oracle E-Business Suite. This directory functions as a catalog of all Oracle E-Business Suite integration points, including Web services, business-tobusiness (B2B) protocols, application programming interfaces (APIs), legacy integration technologies, and business events.

Then the next question is who can benifited if this would be the source of truth for all integration project, the answer would be it is open to:

•  Customers
•  Consultants
•  Integrators

And we can conclude this as powerful user interface for searching and viewing details all available Interfaces and other API’S.

The integration repository includes screens for searching and viewing all available integration points with just a Web browser.This is link which can be point to :http://irep11i10.oracle.com